71′ The Netherlands have another move forward stall on the edge of the box. It ‘s starting to look as though it will take a moment of brilliance, or a set-piece, for the Dutch to bulge the net today.
71′ Substitution Lineth Beerensteyn Shanice van de Sanden
69′ Asllani gets to the byline, dribbles in towards goal, plays a ball centrally, and van Veenendaal easily claims it on the floor.
67′ PENALTY SHOUT! Hurtig goes down in the box after a sliding challenge from van Lunteren and screams for a penalty that the referee squarely denies!
65′ CHANCE! Miedema hit a looping header that had seemingly beaten the ‘keeper to the top-right corner of goal, but Lindahl managed to get a finger to it and pushed the ball onto the crossbar! What a chance, what a save!
63′ Van Beerensteyn drives to the byline and attempts a cross that’s blocked behind by Eriksson. Corner to the Netherlands.
62′ Asllani goes through the leg of Groenen, and the Netherlands will have a free-kick.
60′ 30 minutes left! Can either side find the back of the net and take a step closer to the Women’s World Cup Final?
59′ Jakobsson continues to find space whenever she wants on the right, though the quality of crosses has dropped a bit in the second half.
57′ OFF THE POST! After the ball bounced around the penalty area, Fischer collected it in the box and unleashed a low strike that seemed destined for the bottom-left corner of goal, but it hit the post and van Lunteren clears it away! How unlucky for the Swedes!
55′ Jakobsson is played down the right and has her ensuing cross headed out for a throw by van de Donk.
53′ The Netherlands pass the ball around the opposing penalty area, but can’t seem to find a meaningful point of ingress and the ball eventually goes out for a goal-kick to Sweden.
51′ It looks more like a 4-4-2 from Sweden at the moment, especially in attack, as Asllani joins Blackstenius on the front line.
49′ CHANCE! Blackstenius holds the ball up before turning and driving into the box! She opens up her body and oh… van Lunteran somehow recovers and blocks the shot! That surely would have been a goal had it not been for the intervention of the defender!
48′ Van de Conk and Fischer go in for a 50-50 ball and after the clash, both get up and the Dutch continue to push forward.
46′ The referee’s whistle sounds once more, and this match is back underway!
J. Roord
L. Martens
46′ Martens, who has been dealing with a toe injury throughout this tournament, is taken off with Roord the replacement.
It will certainly be interesting to see how these sides approach the remainder of the match. The Netherlands have been a little slow and hesitant in attack thus far and could benefit from bringing on van de Sanden to stretch the defence and create more space for van de Donk and Spitse in the midfield. As for Sweden, they’ve looked the brighter side going forward thus far and will likely wait until the 60th minute before making any substantial changes.
This match has been very even thus far and the 0-0 scoreline reflects that at the break. The Netherlands have been a bit lackadaisical thus far, not really pressing the issue until the final minutes of the half. They certainly have the quality to break through the Swedish defence at some point, but head into the dressing room with just one shot on target to their name. Sweden, on the other hand, have looked lively in possession, especially down the right via Jakobsson who has threatened with multiple passes and crosses in from wide which have caused problems for the Dutch defence. Their best chances came in a flurry of action in the 37th minute when Rubensson had a shot blocked before Hurtig’s follow-up was kicked away by van Veenendaal. While things have been a little tepid thus far on the whole, there’s certainly cause for excitement heading into the second half considering that 14 of the 20 combined goals scored by these sides at this Women’s World Cup have come after the break.
45′ + 3′ HALF-TIME: Netherlands 0-0 Sweden
45′ + 2′ The Netherlands have started to turn up the pressure here in the final moments of the half. Can they steal a goal before the whistle?
45′ There will be three minutes of added time.
45′ Miedema tries to sort her feet out on the edge of the box and does eventually shoot only to see her shot immediately blocked away by the Swedish defence.
44′ Rubensson fouls van de Donk on the left, and the Netherlands will have a dangerous free-kick with little time remaining in the half.
42′ Things have been a bit stop-start with the injuries and fouls thus far, but hopefully they liven up with half-time looming.
40′ The Dutch defence pass the ball amongst themselves as they look for a route forward.
38′ Fischer fouls Beerenstyn and the Netherlands will have a free-kick in their own half.
37′ SAVE! After a bit of a goal-mouth scramble, van Veenendaal managed a kick-save on a close-range effort from Hurtig to keep her side level!
37′ Jakobsson whips in a cross from the right that van Veenendaal failed to get a solid hand to, and a defender had to knock it behind to prevent any further damage. Sweden will have a corner.
35′ Fischer tries to fizz a pass over to Glas on the right wing, but the pass has too much on it and the latter can’t catch up to it. Throw for the Netherlands.
33′ Another stoppage now after a clash of heads between Asllani and van der Gragt. Both seem alright to carry on though.
32′ It looks like Beerensteyn will try to continue, though van de Sanden continues to warm up vigorously.
31′ Beerensteyn is down on the pitch after a collision with Rubensson and play is halted.
29′ Things are just about dead-even in terms of possession with Sweden holding onto the ball just .4 per cent more than the Dutch thus far.
27′ Glas has done an excellent job of marking Martens thus far, and now wins another battle between the two before hitting the ball upfield.
25′ Brilliant acrobatic interception from Bloodworth as Sweden attempted an incisive pass to Jakobsson in behind the defence.
23′ Blackstenius nearly got to a pass that Jakobsson had played into the box, but a Dutch defender got there first, hit it off the striker, and it will be a Dutch throw.
21′ Sweden, after a long spell of possession in the opposing half, are forced to play all the way back to Lindahl and reset.
19′ Spitse lines up the first corner of the day, and Sweden will need to be careful as the Dutch midfielder has created the most assists at this tournament – and all four of them have come via set-pieces.
17′ Martens draws the attention of two defenders on the wing and is forced to play the ball back to van Dongen behind her.
15′ After being checked out, van Veenendaal seems fine to continue and play starts back up.
13′ CHANCE! Blackstenius was played into the box by Jakobsson, and the former launched the ball towards goal but van Veenendaal manages to parry it away, and then dive on it! After the play, the ‘keeper has stayed down and will receive attention from the trainers.
12′ Asllani goes down in the box and looks up at the referee who ignores her mild shout for a penalty.
10′ After an interception in the final third by the Netherlands, MIedema was played into the box where she took a touch too many and lost the ball. That looked really dangerous initially!
9′ Awkward moment at the back as the Dutch defence freezes after they though Hurtig had dribbled the ball behind. The Swedish winger tries her luck from a tight angle but van Veenendaal manages to get a hold of it, ending the move.
7′ Beerensteyn makes her way to the byline and whips a cross towards Miedema that’s cut out before it could reach the forward’s head. Eventually, it’s cleared by Sweden.
5′ Rubensson skips past a couple of Dutch players in midfield before driving forward and playing Jakobsson into the box.
3′ For those wondering why Bjorn is not on the pitch for Sweden, she was running a fever in the build-up to this match and, after warming up, it was decided that she should not start. Rubensson takes her place in midfield.
1′ Referee Marie-Soleil Beaudoin blows her whistle, and this semi-final match is underway!
Both teams are out on the pitch as the national anthems ring around the Groupama Stadium. Not long to go until kick-off now!
These sides have never met in this competition before, though the Netherlands have gone undefeated against Sweden in their last three matches overall (2W, 1D).
Sweden make one change after their impressive 2-1 win against Germany last time out with Hurting coming in on the left while Rolfo is suspended for yellow card accumulation. Initially, it was announced that Bjorn would play instead of Rubensson, but it’s being reported that the former is ill and will not start. Up front, Blackstenius was a bit disappointing in the group stages, but has turned things on in the knockout rounds, scoring the winning goal against both Canada and Germany. If she can score past the Dutch defence today, she will become the first Swedish player to score in three straight knockout matches at the Women’s World Cup.
Just one change from the Netherlands after their 2-0 win against Italy in the quarter-finals as Beerensteyn replaces van de Sanden on the right. The latter has drawn some criticism for her performances at this tournament and finds herself on the bench because of it. The rest of the attack has been purring quite well throughout 2019 though, with the Netherlands scoring multiple goals in eight of their nine matches this year. When this attack, led by Miedema and Martens, is at it’s best few can slow them down, let alone stop them.
Sweden substitutes: Jennifer Falk, Olivia Schough, Jonna Andersson, Julia Roddar, Zecira Musovic, Madelen Janogy, Elin Rubensson, Mimmi Larsson, Amanda Ilestedt, Julia Zigiotti Olme, Anna Anvegard.
Sweden (4-2-3-1): Hedvig Lindahl; Hanna Glas, Nilla Fischer, Linda Sembrant, Magdalena Eriksson; Nathalie Bjorn, Caroline Seger; Sofia Jakobsson, Kosovare Asllani, Lina Hurtig; Stina Blackstenius.
Netherlands substitutes: Jill Roord, Inessa Kaagman, Ellen Jansen, Loes Geurts, Lize Kop, Kika van Es, Renate Jansen, Liza van der Most, Shanice van de Sanden, Victoria Pelova, Anouk Dekker, Danique Kerkdijk.
Netherlands (4-3-3): Sari van Veenendaal; Desiree van Lunteren, Stefanie van der Gragt, Dominique Bloodworth, Merel van Dongen; Jackie Groenen, Sherida Spitse, Danielle van de Donk; Lineth Beerensteyn, Vivianne Miedema, Lieke Martens.
Now, let’s talk a look at the team news!
We should be in for a terrific match today as, not only will the winner seal a place in the Women’s World Cup final, but both sides come into this match tied with the third-most goals scored at this tournament (10 each).
Hello and welcome to our LIVE match commentary of the Women’s World Cup semifinal match between the Netherlands and Sweden.
S. van de Sanden
L. Beerensteyn